Media Coverage and Long-term Effect Dynamics: Attribute Agenda-setting as a Process of Recency and Cumulation

Revised and resubmitted manuscript. Presented at the ICA Annual Conference, 2022.

The article develops a theory of dynamic media effects by showing how news influence depends on issue phase: strongest during initial formation and renewed salience peaks, weaker as perceptions consolidate. Its research design links a five-wave probability-based panel survey to multiple media-content datasets and estimates within-person change using RI-CLPM models, allowing the article to test when media exposure shapes public perceptions rather than only whether media and opinion are associated.